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the project had no definable end, and the artist pledged his life to its ongoing execution: "All my work is a single thing, the description from number one to infinity. A single thing, a single life", "the problem is that we are, and are about not to be". He had contemplated and tried many different
269:(he did not use commas or number breaks in the works): "My objective is to get up to the white on white and still be alive." As of July 2004, he had reached 5.5 million. Adopting this rigorously serialized approach, Opałka aligned himself with other artists of the time who explored making
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colour, nor an emotional one", and in 1972 he decided that he would gradually lighten this grey background by adding 1% more white to the ground with each passing detail. He expected to be painting virtually in white on white by the time he reached
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and finishing in the bottom right-hand corner, the tiny numbers were painted in horizontal rows. Each new canvas, which the artist called a "detail", took up counting where the last left off. Each "detail" has the same size
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As of
September 19, 2011, the homepage of the official website states: "On August 6th 2011, Roman Opalka completed his work". Under those words is an image of the handwritten number "5607249". The name of the image file is
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Opałka won the celebrated Grand Prize of the 7th
International Biennial of Arts and Graphics of Cracow in 1969, the C. K. Norwid Art Critics Award in 1970, Franceʼs National Painting Prize in 1991 and Germanyʼs
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Over the years there were changes to the process. In Opałka's first details he painted white numbers onto a black background. In 1968 he changed to a grey background "because it's not a
344:, in 1995, 2003, 2011 and 2013. He was represented in Paris and New York by Yvon Lambert, in Venice by Galleria Michela Rizzo and, for many years, at John Weber in New York.
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In 2017, Opałka has made part of the exhibition "Il mio corpo nel tempo / Lüthi Ontani Opalka", Galleria d'Arte
Moderna, Verona 2017. Catalogue Manfredi Edizioni.
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as he painted it, and also began taking passport-style photographs of himself standing before the canvas after each day's work.
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In 2005 the German art project "Camera
Obscura 2005/1-∞" was initiated as an homage to Opałka's life and work. It honours his
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Opałka participated in many of the art world’s most important international exhibitions, including
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Special Prize of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (1996)
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the dimension of his studio door in Warsaw. All details have the same title,
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at a graphics school before enrolling in the School of Art and Design in
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Time–Space–Existence" a project initiated by the artist Rene
Rietmeyer.
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540:"Roman Opalka, Artist Who Painted Millions of Numbers, Dies at 79"
395:(Order of Arts and of Letters) in France. In 2009, he was awarded
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Opałka's works can be found in the permanent collections of the
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Gold Medal of the
Cultural Merit "Gloria Artis", Warsaw (2009)
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ways to visualize time before settling on this life's work.
198:. He died at age 79 after falling ill while on holiday in
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Art Award for his life long depiction of "Time
Passing".
359:'s exhibition (the curator was Alain Julien-Laferrière).
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488:"Roman Opalka, an Artist of Numbers, Is Dead at 79"
206:and died there a few days later, on 6 August 2011.
186:. He moved back to France in 1977. Opałka lived in
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397:Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis
307:In 2007 Opałka participated at the symposium "
289:. He was represented in Paris and New York by
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462:[Polish painter Roman Opałka died].
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410:awarded him with Commander's Cross of the
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293:and in Venice by Galleria Michela Rizzo.
155:; 27 August 1931 – 6 August 2011) was a
123:National Prize of Painting, Paris (1991)
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391:in 1993. He was named Commander of the
458:Bomanowska, Marzena (August 6, 2011).
741:Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni
202:. He was admitted to a hospital near
170:Opałka was born on 27 August 1939 in
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414:. In 2011 Opalka was awarded by the
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468:(in Polish). Warsaw. Archived from
538:Russeth, Andrew (August 9, 2011).
486:Grimes, William (August 9, 2011).
460:"Zmarł polski malarz Roman Opałka"
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336:in Kassel, Germany, in 1977; the
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696:20th-century French male artists
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731:French people of Polish descent
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393:Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
110:Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
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353:exhibited his work through
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412:Order of Polonia Restituta
225:In 1965, in his studio in
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618:"Camera Obscura 2005/1-∞"
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601:European Cultural Centre
508:"Obituary: Roman Opałka"
416:European Cultural Centre
374:in Paris and New York’s
356:"L’œuvre photographique"
229:, Opałka began painting
660:Katarzyna Napiórkowska
563:"Yvon Lambert Gallery"
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71:(2011-08-06)
23:Roman Opałka
686:2011 deaths
681:1931 births
382:Recognition
366:Collections
328:Exhibitions
275:mathematics
176:lithography
84:Nationality
675:Categories
442:References
302:microphone
133:opalka1965
47:1931-08-27
520:30 August
347:In 2003,
334:Documenta
283:On Kawara
627:18 March
256:symbolic
235:infinity
96:Painting
277:, like
231:numbers
192:Le Mans
190:, near
128:Website
422:Legacy
285:, and
239:canvas
227:Warsaw
196:Venice
194:, and
188:Teille
161:Polish
159:-born
157:French
148:Polish
105:Awards
59:France
200:Italy
629:2018
522:2012
436:eBay
210:Work
204:Rome
180:Łódź
135:.com
77:Rome
66:Died
41:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
